Pendolino Olives are small to medium-sized olives grown for oil with a 20 to 20% oil content. The oil is considered good quality. The oil is light green with a light purple blush. The tree, which is a cultivar, is a good pollinator for other olive trees, but cannot pollinate itself. It tolerates lower temperatures….
Tuscan Food
Prosciutto Toscano
Prosciutto Toscano is a version of prosciutto ham made in Tuscany. It is raw, but it is able to be eaten uncooked because of the aging process.A whole one consists of the ham of the pig, its upper thigh and will weigh 8 to 9 kg (17 ½ to 20 pounds.) The meat will be…
Santa Caterina Olives
The Santa Caterina Olive tree is a strong, vigorous and consistent producer. The olives are very large, with a 17% oil yield. There are grooves on the surface of the pit inside. The olives are harvested green in September for table olives, or let ripen to black for pressing into oil. Grown in Tuscany, as…
Sushi del Chianti
Sushi del Chianti is raw beef, marinated in olive oil with herbs and spices, and put on skewers. It can be served raw, or slightly cooked. Sushi del Chianti is a take on either raw fish sushi, or steak tartare. The meat used needs to be very tender. History Notes Sushi del Chianti was popularized…
Testaroli
Testaroli are both a pasta and a bread, made in the Lunigiana valley area in Tuscany, Italy, on the border with Liguria. The batter is made from equal parts of water and wheat flour. It needs to be the thickness of heavy cream, or pancake batter. A pan is heated, oiled with olive oil, and…
Toscanelli Beans
Toscanelli Beans are small beans, but larger than cannellini beans. They have an off-white colour, and a tender skin. When cooked, Toscanelli Beans are creamy. The classic traditional way of cooking Toscanelli Beans, back in the day when people had hearths, was to put them in a flask with olive oil and garlic at night…
Tripe
Tripe is the mysterious white, spongy stuff on grocery stores meat counters. It is animal stomach from a cow, a pig or a sheep. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) essentially only recognizes two types of tripe in its “Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications” (1993): honeycomb and other. Item No. 726 – Beef Tripe, Scalded,…
Trippa alla Fiorentina
Trippa alla Fiorentina is Florentine-style tripe — which is served hot in a tomato sauce, with parmesan. You can get it in restaurants, and people do of course make it at home, but mostly typically you get it from tripe vendors, who set up their food carts at various places in the city, particularly in…
Tuscan Food
Italian cooking is very regional. The food of Tuscany can be very different from that prepared in the rest of Italy. Yet, even Tuscan food is not monolithic but rather regional within itself as well. Tuscany is divided administratively into the following provinces. The provincial divisions also reflect the culinary divisions: Arezzo Florence (Firenze) Grosseto…
Zolfino Beans
Zolfino beans (aka Zolfini, Zolfino Pratomagno, aka Fagiolo del Cento) are small, round yellow beans with a paler yellow eye. If you see “Pratomagno” as part of the name, it means they were grown in a particular part of Tuscany, Italy. They have thin skins and a mild flavour. Despite their thin skin and creamy…